Film submissions will be accepted starting on January 20, through Film Freeway. The Early Deadline for submissions is March 31, and the final Last Call Deadline is July 20.

All Festival film screenings will once again be shown at RC Theatres Movies 10 in Kill Devil Hills, accompanied by nightly after parties, as well as costume contests, Scaryoke, special guest Q&A panels, and more Halloween events to be announced.

The mission of the Halloween International Film Festival is to promote the artistry of independent films made in the spirit of creativity, support the future of cinema by providing exposure for talented visionary filmmakers, and celebrate a collective passion for Halloween.

Independent film submissions of all genres were received from around the world for the inaugural Halloween International Film Festival, which took place Oct. 27-29, 2016 in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, featuring a total of 40 films, and awards were presented to the following winners.

HALLOWEEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2016 AWARD WINNERS

Best Feature Film – THE BARN

Best Short Film – MONSTERS

Best Actor – MICHAEL LORZ (Chateau Sauvignon: terroir)

Best Actress – HEATHER MORRIS (The Cleansing Hour)

Best Halloween Film – THE BARN

Best International Film – SHADOW OF THE MISSING (UK/US production)

Best North Carolina Film – TIMES LIKE DYING

The festival kicked off on Thursday, Oct 27, with the Made in NC short film block featuring Official Selections that were all shot in our home state of North Carolina, including the world premiere of the found footage thriller File #27959, which was filmed entirely here on the Outer Banks. Additional NC-shot films in this block included Possession, Dark Heat, Misread, Watch, Pocosin, and Don’t Let the Light In.

Special guest filmmakers Kaitlin Suggs (Misread), Rob Jenkins (File #27959), and Justin Casey and S. Kruger (Pocosin) were in attendance to discuss their films and meet with fans on Thursday.

The feature length Official Selections for Thursday, Oct. 27 were also all filmed in North Carolina, including Hank vs. The Undead, One Last Sunset Redux starring The Walking Dead actresses Addy Miller and Dahlia Legault, and the exclusive world premiere of You Found Me starring former Penthouse Pet of the Year Taya Parker and Elissa Dowling (Tales of Halloween).

The final film of our opening night was a special Featured Selection (non-competition) screening of the sci-fi adventure Sol, filmed entirely on the Outer Banks, North Carolina.

Day Two of the festival on Friday, Oct. 28 began with the feature length ghost story In April, a haunting road trip from Canada.

The Horror/Sci-fi short film block on Friday afternoon included Comic-Con International Judges Choice Winner Monsters starring Caitlin Carmichael (300: Rise of an Empire) and Ione Skye (Say Anything), in addition to Synesthesia, Flashlight, Night of the Deadly Puppet, The Cleansing Hour starring Heather Morris (Glee), the world premiere of Mandrone,and Heart’s Desire with director Gabriel Gran in attendance all the way from Los Angeles, California for a fun Q&A following the screening of his film.

Official Selections in the feature length category on Friday night included the southern gothic anthology Paranormalice, and the international production Shadow of the Missing, with the film’s talented writer/director/producer and lead actress Jamie Lee Smith in attendance from Miami, Florida for a Q&A following the screening.

Friday night’s showcase Featured Selection was a special screening of the international award winning short film Night of the Slasher, a “single take” horror homage with an ironic and heartfelt twist, which was followed by two bonus “fan film” free screenings of Enjoy the Show and The Haddonfield Memorial Tapes during the official after party at the Outer Banks Brewing Station.

Day Three began on Saturday, Oct. 29 with the International short film block, including the U.S. premiere of Bad Acid from the United Kingdom, plus Candy Skin and Waste of a Fall from Canada, and the documentary-thriller hybrid Frank the Ripper, which was shot in New York by Emmy nominated Canadian filmmaker Ian Johnston.

After a trip up north and overseas, we stepped back in time to the old west in the period thriller Times Like Dying, filmed in North Carolina, with special guest actor/writer/producer Anthony Reynolds (The Hunger Games, Iron Man 3, The Red Road, Prisoners, Red Dragon, Fantastic Four) in attendance for a Q&A after the screening.

Saturday continued with the blind date nightmare I’ll Have Another, with actor/writer/director Bill Brock in attendance as well for a Q&A, after which all of our special guests mingled with fans in the lobby for an awesome meet and greet and photo op session.

Horror returned on Saturday afternoon with a short film block that included Chateau Sauvignon: terroir, Sticks, and Killennial.

Seasonal treats took over on Saturday evening with the Halloween short film block, showing The Halloween Spirit, The Halloween Girl, and a trio of horrors from The Witching Season online series, including Killer on the Loose, Not Alone, and Princess.

The final Official Selection of the festival was the insanely entertaining feature length throwback Halloween horror film The Barn, featuring genre legend Linnea Quigley (Night of the Demons, The Return of the Living Dead, Silent Night Deadly Night), which takes place on Halloween in 1989 and introduces audiences to three new icons of fear in Hallowed Jack, The Candycorn Scarecrow, and The Boogeyman.

The festival concluded with a final showcase Featured Selection screening of another Halloween horror movie that also celebrates the late ’80s with wicked fun, as Honeyspider wrapped up the event with a spooky feature length bag of treats filmed entirely in North Carolina.

The first Halloween International Film Festival was followed by the largest Halloween celebration on the Outer Banks, the 3rd Annual Halloween Parade of Costumes on Sunday, October 30, with more than 200 registered participants and hundreds more in attendance to watch the parade and enjoy the festivities. Awards were given to winners of all ages with the best costumes in various categories, with over $3,000 in prizes given out.